We've been at the Cale at Taden since the 8th of June (click here for photos) and are thoroughly enjoying it - there's lots to do and to see all around us. We have our old Peugeot 406 which has proved an amazing buy, thanks to friends Rob and Karo. It is British registered and has had only very small, easily fixed, problems so far, costing relatively little. (133E for a geer cable and some anti-freeze from a very good Peugeot garage!)
The north coast of Brittany is near at hand for extra sunny days - with a choice of beautiful beaches - and the ancient town of Dinan is not 2 kilometers by boat or car. The village of Taden is a delight but has just a pub and a church as well as a huge but unabtrusive caravan/camping site. Our friends Rose and Hubert Eychenne have a lovely house there. So that's all good on the social side and I have already played the piano at the pub three times for the 'Hat money ' and for beer. (It still hasn't had to close!!)
So is it all plain sailing? 'Fraid not! There are some additional costs to wild mooring which we would not have had if we had stayed in Tinteniac, plugged into the mains electricity and water supply for which there is no charge from May to the end of October; whereas here at Taden there are no services nor additional charges at all but we have to rely upon solar panels and our petrol generator to maintain our batteries - and the problem with that is, although it is easy enough to get to the 'absorbtion' stage - ie around 97% full - the 100% full (nervana) can only be reached with an additional 3 hours of running the generator. That is where it becomes expensive on petrol. We reckon on spending about 20E per week on petrol including an unknown but small amount of engine diesel when we take Body and Soul downstream to the Port of Lyvet once a week, to fill up with water. It is beautiful but just an hour's trip all done.
It is true that in order to get supplies we have to use our car a bit more than we would like, but then we are much closer to the beaches and the wonderful places and events going on all the time in the holiday period - July, August and September. That is our choice and it has already been great to offer visiting guests, so many things to do and to see.
Son Jake and family arrived at very short notice, in their new van with caravan on tow complete with gifts of beer and the like. We had a splended few days visiting places, beaches and the annual 14th July firework festival, marking Bastille Day. Unfortunately they just missed the annual jousting competition at Dinan which we loved. Perhaps next year? Below is a description of the Cale de taden, where we are moored.
Our new 'Tender' (we call her 'Tenderly' after the famous Song Tenderly Eb)took it upon herself to untie her own mooring rope and disappear into the unknown; for three days she was missing - either an escapee and of her own accord, or perhaps she was stolen - but we found her neatly folded and tied on the deck of a cruiser tied up at Dinan with her oars safely stowed away inside the cabin.
I was able to identify her by the plastic 'collers' which I had used to repair one of her side ropes; thus the friendly and efficient 'Port Capitaine' was able to negotiate her return with the people who had found her. She now has an indelable name written on her side to help prevent further problems; I should have done that before...but there you go...
The use of the generator (A Honda EU20i) is not just a matter of using expensive fuel. There are several domestic appliances which require as much wattage as the poor thing can give without making it overload and cut out. For instance, Lucie's hair drier has to be plugged in to the generator alone, with the fast setting switched on. This applies also to the Kartcher vacuum cleaner and the washing machine.
I'm really not sure about the benefits of the three solar panels which we have on our roof. I believe they are each 60 watts and that I have wired them in parallel to give me 180 watts at 20 volts in maximum sunlight.....but there is something I haven't got right about this calculation which, in my book, should make 9 amps available. Someone please tell me if this is correct! But then, of course, the panels do nothing for us during the night which is when we can't use the generator (because of the noise) and have to rely on the batteries through the inverter to run pumps, fridge, computer, amplifier, coffee capucino milk frothing - machine and lighting. We try to use oil lamps and candles which does a lot for romance but not a lot else......
Currently, our four 'Trojan' 6 volt batteries are wired in series and parallel to give us 12 volts. They are now three years old, are well watered and seem to be holding their own but they are only just good enough to maintain their voltage above 12v for one night during the hot weather. We have an anti- sulphation device fitted which is supposed to make them last longer and work better.
I am told that once batteries reach the absorption stage whilst being charged, they are 97% full. It then takes three hours of generation (factory set) to bring them up to fully charged state. That is a lot of petrol for such a little reward, but I am trying to do this once a week in order to keep them 'healthy'. That may or may not be correct practice, or indeed necessary. I am seeking advice on this.
Our Eberspacher, when it works, is the central water heating system. For each hour it delivers heating, if required, and enough hot water for domestic purposes. It runs on domestic diesel (pink) fuel which can be bought locally at around 80 cents a litre. One has to sign for this each time one fills up. It consumes about half a litre of this stuff per hour. Woe betied anyone who mixes even the smallest amount of the tax free pink stuff with the main engine fuel tank. We are very careful about this and since we have been in France I have devised a completely separate fuel system and tank.
So our life on board Body and Soul, whilst 'wild mooring', is very much about using fuels of one kind or another, as efficiently as possible. Listing them all gives me quite a fright!
1. Petrol for the generator and car,
2. Pink diesel for the Eberspacher (the central heating/hot water system)
3. Normal diesel for the boat's engine, (approx one litre per three kilometers)
4. Bottle gas for the cooker
5. Parafin for the oil lamps (and candles)
6. Logs for the Jotul wood burner. (weather dependent)
So the 'Annual Fuel Allowance' that we get from our government is very much appreciated !
But it's never all plain sailing, y'know, is it?